What an honor to be included in an extraordinary two days in Naperville, Illinois, celebrating literature with passionate educators and some of the biggest names in children’s book writing and illustrating.

With 70 authors and illustrators, multiple panels and classes running simultaneously, it was hard to choose where to be. (Official website here: https://litapalooza.weebly.com/)

After the keynote with Dan Santat and Mihn Le, we kicked things off with a panel on writing for our youngest readers. With event organizer and literacy expert Steph McHugh facilitating, Jarrett Lerner (Nat the Cat and Scare School), Blythe Russo (Sloth Sleeps Over), Stephen Shaskin (Pizza and Taco), and Ashley Belote (Sheepwrecked) had a great conversation about making books kids can and want to read.

Then I was honored to be a part of the Litapalooza panel, “Beyond Stereotypes: Centering Inclusive Characters’ Stories Thoughtfully” with erry J. Benton-Walker @icecreamvicelord and @supriya.kelkar moderated by the wonderful @Booksdogsandcoffee.

One of the most powerful panels I participated in on was one about  “coring out” picture books using a core board, which is like the screen on an AAC device, except it’s just the main vocabulary words, which makes up 80% of spoken language. SO COOL!!!!

Here are some more photos of me meeting my #kidlit heroes and collaborating with creators and educators.

It was also nice to spend several days in downtown Chicago with my family before the conference, visiting all the major sights. Still recovering and still smiling!

10/10 would Litapalooza again!

#litapalooza #LITAPALOOZA24